Re: OT: Computer help!!

Claude V. Lucas <claudel@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
In article <C_WdnRwnYNVjlJPXnZ2dnUVZ_vednZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
RichL <rpleavitt@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Claude V. Lucas <claudel@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
In article <9JOdnfU46_ruYpDXnZ2dnUVZ_hqdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
RichL <rpleavitt@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
RichL <rpleavitt@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Nil <rednoise@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On 12 May 2009, "RichL" <rpleavitt@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in
alt.guitar:

Anyone?

Have you checked Windows Event logs? You might find some clues
there.

One thing I've seen that can produce symptoms similar to what you
describe is the setting within the network adapter that
determines the speed at which it communicates to the network.
Usually "Automatic" does it, but sometimes it seems to work
better with other devices if you specify. Go to Device Manager |
Network Adapters | Advanced and look for a setting labeled
something like "Speed and Duplex". Set it to 100Mbps Full
Duplex, or whatever your network can handle. Sometimes even just
changing the setting, confirming the change, then setting it
back to Auto will set things right.

OK, I tried this. When I brought up the Device Manager/Speed and
Duplex it was set to Auto mode but it had already selected 100
Mbps/Full Duplex. I did as you said, forced it to 100/full, and
now I can connect. Again I'm only connected to newsgroups
through OE at this point, it remains to be seen if it will handle
IE, Firefox etc. without problems. I'll check right now.

OK, I lost it again. But I can get it back, at least for a very
short period, by repeating this procedure (or so it seems).

When I lose the connection, I get a network icon in the system tray
with a red x, and if I hold the mouse over that it says something
like "no network connection". But when I change speed/duplex using
Device Manager, that icon disappears and I'm temporarily back in
business.

Do you think this narrows down the possible list of causes?



Did you try a different cable?

Yes, I've swapped cables with the one on my other machine.
The thing is, this problem is so intermittent that it's difficult to
completely rule out a cable problem.

Nil's suggestion DOES seem to wake up the connection, at least
temporarily.

At the present time, I can use Device Manager -> Duplex/Speed
settings to restore the internet connection but running either IE or
Firefox and visiting more than a couple of web pages seems to screw
things up. But if I stick to OE/newsgroups I'm OK for an extended
period.

It's good to lock in a speed/duplex rather than let the thing
thrash on auto trying to decide. The speed/duplex setting needs
to match the router port... Setting it to 10 instead of 100 hides
some marginal problems sometimes. It's not as if you're going fast
enough on the cable to gain anything using 100 unless you copy stuff
machine to machine locally. Lots of stuff.

Changed to 10/full, opened firefox, read 2 e-mail messages, lost
connection.

Reset to auto, back in business with OE/newsgroups, reluctant to open
any other internet apps for now.

Try a different router port. Plug the other machine into the
port the problem machine is using and see if the problem follows.

Done a while back. The problem stays with this computer regardless of
cable, router port, etc.

Hard boot the router and cable modem. Leave 'em off for awhile.

Done several times. No effect.

You *did* say the machine has been scanned by something up-to date?

It was up to date as of the last time I had a fully functioning internet
connection. I'll attempt to download updates tonight but I'm not
optimistic.

Did you update any software before things went weird?

Updated Firefox a few weeks back. There was some immediate wierdness; I
had to create a new profile for some streaming audio plugins to work.
Previously, I had been running Firefox 2.x. I mentioned several posts
back that I thought there might be some incompatibility issues between
Firefox 3.x and Win2K. I'm still thinking (somewhat) along those lines
but I'm wondering why IE seems to be affected as well. I suppose it's
possible that Firefox installation "updated" some shared DLL file that's
causing the problem.

Perhaps there was a subterranean event in the ethernet card's
logic labyrinth and the bits are getting lost.

New ethernet card - cheap.

The only reason I'm hesitating on that is that I'm leaning toward
replacing the computer (and I was thinking about doing that before this
issue arose).

Judging from what I've seen so far, it seems to be a traffic issue.
Usenet -> small text-only files, the connection seems to stay alive for
a long time. Web browser -> lots of images, large files being
downloaded.

I'll try updating McAfee virus definition files now and see how that
goes.


.

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    ... determines the speed at which it communicates to the network. ... it will handle IE, Firefox etc. without problems. ... When I lose the connection, I get a network icon in the system ... I've swapped cables with the one on my other machine. ...
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    ... IE, Firefox etc. without problems. ... When I lose the connection, I get a network icon in the system ... I've swapped cables with the one on my other machine. ... window and launched it without problems. ...
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  • Re: OT: Computer help!!
    ... determines the speed at which it communicates to the network. ... IE, Firefox etc. without problems. ... When I lose the connection, I get a network icon in the system tray ... I've swapped cables with the one on my other machine. ...
    (alt.guitar)
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